Nagin Warns Of 'Storm Of Century;' Mandatory Evacuations Issued

WDSU TV ^ | August 30, 2008 | Veronica Haynes, WDSU.com

[Islander7]

NEW ORLEANS -- Residents who try to ride out Hurricane Gustav will be making the biggest mistake of their lives, New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin warned on Saturday.

Nagin Warns Of 'Storm Of Century'! Video

"You need to be scared. You need to be concerned. You need to get your butts out of New Orleans. This is the storm of the century," Nagin said.

Mandatory evacuations have been ordered for Westbank starting at 8 a.m. Sunday, and mandatory evacuations of the Eastbank will begin at noon.

"Riding it out would be the biggest mistake you could make in your life," Nagin said.

Nagin warned that no emergency services will be available to residents who choose not to leave. He told residents who want to stay to make sure they have an ax, as they will be cutting through their roofs to get out of their flooded homes.

Nagin said 2005's Hurricane Katrina came ashore as a Category 3 storm. Gustav is expected to hit as either a Category 4 or 5.

[Islander7]

Useful links:

WWL TV New Orleans

http://www.wwltv.com/

WDSU TV New Orleans

http://www.wdsu.com/index.html

RADAR Loop - Houma, LA

http://www.intellicast.com/National/Radar/OneKM.aspx?animate=true&location=USLA0224

NOAA Data Buoys

http://www.ndbc.noaa.gov/maps/Florida.shtml

[hinckley buzzard]

Hey Ray, you're three years late.

[FlingWingFlyer]

Any word if the legendary “looter guy” got out yet?

[doc1019]

Now he will be proclaimed a hero.

[edpc]

New Orleans, San Francisco, Los Angeles, etc.....

.....some places, given natural disaster history and geograhy, are existing on dwindling borrowed time.

[max americana]

Ray Nagin finally’ evacuates the “Chocolate City”.

[Ben Reyes]

Same Nagin who was in Houston riding out the storm during Katrina.

He was forced to go back to New Orleans to fix the mess he created in the Astrodome.

[ButThreeLeftsDo]

Beat me to it.

Ray thinks that he’s now become a hero after screwing the pooch in ‘05.

[bruinbirdman]

yitbos

[Texas Songwriter]

Quick Study

[yldstrk]

4 or 5? Those folks need to get out and quick

[RummyChick]

Sounds like it could wipe out the buildings in New Orleans just by the wind.

[SlowBoat407]

[TornadoAlley3]

Will be no New Orleans left if this forecast holds.

[BlessedBeGod]

Prayers for everyone in the hurricane’s path.

[Domandred]

As long as the good people get out somehow I can’t find anything wrong with New Orleans ceasing to exist.

[darkwing104]

Now he will be proclaimed a hero.

Nah, He's got a governor that will remove him if he doesn't order an evacuation...

[RummyChick]

How many people did he say would be left in the city ?

5?

I can just see looters saying..FIELD DAY..lets ride it out.

[Islander7]

PING

[Dilbert San Diego]

Wait a minute. Didn’t Ray Nagin stay in New Orleans during Katrina? I thought he was stranded on the 27th floor of a downtown building with his emergency team and his cell phone? And he called Bush and told him to get his “ass” down to New Orleans because he needed reinforcements?

Anyway, let’s hope and pray that the worst doesn’t happen. Can New Orleans survive a direct hit from a category 4 or 5 hurricane? Even though they said the levees have been reinforced, wouldn’t the wind damage cause mass destruction? Remember last time, Katrina veered off at the last minute so wind damage in N.O. was minimal. It was the flooding that caused the mass destruction. Combining the winds and new flooding, will there be anything left?

It’s a frightening thought.